Simple living in the country - back to basics

beanielou

Have a happy healthy & productive July xxx

badmemory

I would like a version in each of the languages selfishly to see if I can still do it!  Enjoy!

Starlight_at_Sea

Enjoy your July Cheery! 

Cheery_Daff

Hello all 😊😊

Thank you for all your good wishes for July 😊 I've had a lovely time, and I did get a fair bit done, although inevitably the acres of time I thought I might find didn't materialise 😂

Not sure what to report! It's been raining 🙄 A lot. Some things have happened though! 

* I've started scything - some friends are coming to help next weekend so I'm trying to get as much done as I can before then so there'll be plenty to do (only one can scythe at a time, the other two will be raking and shifting). 

* We've started the process of making windowsills for the kitchen and bedroom. We're using the giant old stone roof tiles from the barn - some of them are almost a metre long 😱 At the minute they're all proper round the garden so I could measure, it looks like a graveyard 😂 Need to clean them all too - makes more sense to cut before cleaning, but cleaning is the easy bit, and if I do that first, means they can be put straight into place once cut...

* I'm currently in the middle of 26 days off work 😱😃 It's great 😂 although I am of course being a fuss pot about how I'm going to use those days, and feeling constantly like I'm wasting them. Packed in a fair few visits/visitors, and now I've had to stop actively arranging things as I'm starting to feel like I've got no time at home 🙄

* saw an old school friend last week, and went to stay with another friend up in the dales. Anold colleague came back from India so a night in the pub with her, a visit to Mr Cheery's dad, my mum's tomorrow, hay making friends here at the weekend, some time in Wales next week, another friend for a day, and then it'll be time to go back to work 😱

* Octopus have finally decided they can fit us a smart meter! The last company said there wasn't enough space, so when we switched I asked again, and it's taken a bit of back and forth but they've said they can do it now. Need to book a time.

* Less joy coming from Smeg 🙄 We NEVER buy fancy appliances, but when we had the kitchen done, Mr Cheery wanted an induction hob with dials, and the only place we could get one was Smeg. No matter, it's a beautiful thing, looks lovely in the kitchen, and will last for years to come. Except now the enamel is chipping off the sides and it's going rusty. I didn't think for a second they'd do anything about it, but figured I might as well ask. Customer service has been a pain in the !!!!!! to get hold of, and after sending photos etc they've decided it's my fault, caused by "sliding pans". I haven't been playing air hockey on the cooker!! Just normal, light use by 2 adults over 18 months. Hey ho - for the record, here's a picture of my beautiful Smeg hob after 18 months.



Anyway, I most definitely will NOT be using their recommended repair people - they've had £700 from me and won't ever be getting any more! Not decided what we will be doing yet though - probably just slapping on some enamel/metal paint - I've spent all my life putting up with crap because I couldn't afford any better, turns out 'better' wasn't actually any better anyway 🙄

Anyway, enough moaning - they've rattled my cage as you can see!

What else? 

* happy wheel has been rubbish, and also outright neglected some days - I think I'm down about £20 for July 🙄Need to get back on the case! 

* finally sorted the PIN for Mr Cheery's credit card - it's attached to my account, we pay it off every month, just use it for racking up points. Had about £40 last year, now he can start earning on diesel and food too. 

* finally started sorting out power of attorney - just need to check, print, get signatures and get it sent off. 

* craft room is all set up! 😃 Sewing machines are up there, we moved some shelves up there yesterday, and I found a chair for £2 in a charity shop 😃 Going to attempt a bit of reupholstering at some point, but the seat is perfectly intact for now. 

Right. It's not raining right now so I feel like I should get out in the field... but actually Mr Cheery has just gone out, so I have unrestricted access to my own computer (his got fried in the lightening strike) so I might check banks & ynab and do a bit of editing of the video I'm making for some friends 😊

Nice to be back! I'll try to slowly catch up with diaries over the next few days!

Tescodealqueen

Lovely to see you back Cheery. Wish the rain would do one. Rubbish Response from what is supposed to be a prestigious brand.
oh and Happy Yorkshire Day. Wasn’t a thing when I was growing up so I looked it up and appears it was a thing in some Yorkshire Regiments and became a county wide thing in 1975, just as I was leaving to join the forces!!! So I can say it now I am back 😂

Karmacat

Hiya Cheery 🤗⭐🌈🌞 how lovely to see you!  It's a month, oh my word.  

I love the sound of your stone windowsills, utterly gorgeous.  But Smeg!  That's not remotely damage from pans, not at all, that's their equipment that's at fault.  Got to be an Ombudsman somewhere - you can see how pristine your "pan shapes" are just from that photo.

Anyway.  I shan't get your blood pressure up again, sorry.  Speaking of which ... you have a craft room!  And 26 days off work!  How utterly blissful, on both counts.  I think my office might end up being dual function, and it's brilliant.  Enjoy your day, whatever you choose to do  

beanielou

So good to hear from you. 

Happy holidays 😻😎🌻
shocking shocking response from Smeg. 

starnac

Hey Cheery, you have been busy! 

Your windowsills sound fab. I did laugh at your garden looking like a cemetery though! Good job on the scything too. Hope you get loads done with your friends there. 

As for your time off work. Some days are meant to be "wasted". R&R is extremely important so try not to pack too much into your holiday. 

Smeg sound awful. When DD was born (nearly 16 years ago) DH bought an induction hob claiming it would be much safer for our precious first born! They weren't really popular in the UK then so we paid a lot of money for a German branded one. It is literally still in the house we just moved out of. And apart from a crack on the corner (where someone cough *may* have dropped a cast iron griddle on it!) it looks as good as new! And we are a family of 2 adults and 2 children, both of whom have grown up learning how to cook on it. So it has been, shall we say, heavily used. 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, it's so good to be back, hello all! 😊😊

Thank you all for your commiserations about the hob. I'm not remotely impressed, but they are clearly washing their hands of it, and saying it still works, and their warranty doesn't cover cosmetic damage 🙄 Fine - it does still work, but if I'd wanted something that just worked but looked rubbish, I would have got a £50 one from the charity shop 🙄Might revive my Instagram account solely to spam their #AtHomeWithSmeg inspirational hashtag 🙄😈😂

Anyway, enough moaning on about that. Today has been a nicely relaxing one, mostly. 

* we hung the second blind in the bedroom - took a bit of doing and we've had to glue rather than screw, but I think it'll hold. Going to leave it til tomorrow before we hang the blind back on the glued pole.

* went out for a couple of hours tonight for a cheapo pub pizza

* did an hour of scything tonight - that's almost three full rows I've done now. 

* banks & ynab checked, all looking reasonable. Better than expected actually, as all my expenses have been paid now so I was able to top up various pots. YNAB doesn't like you having expenses owing to you (reasonably saying that money is not available right now, therefore you can't 'allocate' it within your budget pots), so I have to remove from a long term pot, then top it back up. So all looking ok.

* Also, July was the first month in ages I've had a full wage without strike deductions, so that helped as well! I think I'm due a bit of deduction in August, must check, but also should be going up a rung on the pay scale - I've not even tried to work that out yet. 

* forgot to say geezer has been rendering the gable end of the house, in amongst downpours 🙄 This weather has NOT been helpful - clearly he forgot about us until I prodded him (wanting to get it done before the winter) so he's doing it on Saturdays. Should just be one more day now - he's going to fit the plastic fascia boards we got free from a neighbour too, and fix a bit of gutter that's come loose at the other end of the house. Quote was £900 - there's an extra bit of fascia board to do which he reckons will be another £30. Not a cheap job, but hopefully it will make Mr Cheery's music room waterproof! And means we'll eventually be able to replace the window in there (no point doing til the rendering was done). Money is budgeted for the rendering, but we'll wait to save a bit more for the windows, it's not urgent and we'll likely want to replace a few blown panes elsewhere at the same time.

Going to help my mum with some decorating tomorrow - she's providing lunch but I'll knock up a bit of salad in the morning I think.

Anyway, here's my graveyard front garden to amuse you all 😂

badmemory

Sliding pans!!  What a ***********.  I put the  * s in it saves the system from doing it for me.